"Which technique did you choose?" Leon stared at the scroll in Dean's hand before asking curiously.
"A movement technique." Dean showed Leon the scroll in his hand.
Unlike how Dean left the training ground this morning, he felt energetic. Initially, he expected his muscles to ache for about three days at the very least, but who knew all the aching and tiredness would go away the moment he finished meditating.
'Cultivating sure is a wondrous thing.' He thought to himself.
He suddenly recalled all the times he went for exercises on earth, he wouldn't be able to lift his hands properly for almost two days after doing a set of push-ups, ten to be precise.
"How about you?" asked Dean.
"A fist technique." Leon replied without showing much enthusiasm.
Looking at Leon's face, Dean gave a wry smile.
"Are you really going to live the rest of your life like this?" Dean couldn't help but ask.
Hearing this, Leon clenched his fists without replying.
'How I live my life is none of your business.' He complained internally.
The only reason he didn't speak out was that he knew it would probably trigger Dean's talking state. Just like the previous Dean, this one also liked talking, a lot! He enjoyed it when the previous one did it, but looking at this one, he felt slightly annoyed by it.
Actually, he couldn't say he was annoyed, maybe it was because he reminded him of his dead friend so much. Had they just looked alike without having the same traits, then he wouldn't have been this upset. But the similarities were just so much that he still had doubts.
When he recalled what he saw again, he knew the chances of Dean surviving the attack were slim, so he knew his friend was dead. But, why were they so alike?
Picking a room, Leon slowly started walking towards it.
Since they were practicing techniques, they would be using the technique room. There were fifteen rooms on each side of the training ground, each room having a space of about twenty-five square meters.
Dean also picked a room randomly and headed inside enthusiastically.
The reason they didn't use the training ground was that they were both going to train in their respective family's techniques. Although both families are close, the ties only started with Mason and Anthony, so the elders of both families wouldn't allow for their family's technique to be trained by an outsider unless said outsider joined them.
Being in the Body Tempering stage, they relied heavily on physical strength. So, every technique they would learn in this stage has to do with improving their physical body, in terms of speed, strength, and also reaction.
….
Bam! Bam!
Leon's fist hit one of the wooden pillars in the room.
"Still too slow, and the power of the second punch is still lacking." He complained while looking at his left fist which had already started to ache from hitting the wood too much.
This was the twenty-eighth time he was trying the technique, but he still hadn't been able to get it yet. But compared to his first attempt, his speed had improved a lot.
The fist technique Leon was practicing was a high-grade fist technique in the O'Brien family. The technique was called, 'Double Fists'. It was called this because when the user of the technique attacks, it's like he's using two fists simultaneously.
After sending out a blow, the user follows instantly with the same fist catching his opponent unaware. If trained to perfection, one can attack with the same fist twice in one second, hitting two different spots, with the second blow surprisingly having a higher attack power.
The first hit is mainly used as a feint since the second hit is what truly matters. An opponent might be able to block the first one if their reaction speed is good by following the trajectory of the blow, but as for the second blow that follows, only a few can block it.
Ten minutes later
Bam! Bam!
Two more hits, yet the difference in their sounds were evident.
The first one sounded louder compared to the second one. Now he has been able to increase his speed and make both strikes in just over a second and some milliseconds.
"Still too weak." Leon complained in frustration.
'I'm getting too worked up, I don't expect to learn it in a day. My progress isn't that bad, it's just…' He sighed as he looked around, 'I'll stop for today.'
His left hand was shaking slightly from pain, his knuckles were already bruised with blood slowly dripping from it.
At first, revenge was the only thing pushing him. But now after giving it some thought, he had a new conviction, the will to protect his loved ones. Had he been strong enough to protect his friend, then nothing like this would have happened.
He didn't want to experience that feeling of helplessness again, hence he was trying to grow stronger faster.
….
When Leon stepped out, he saw Dean sitting on a bench on the training ground, under a tree.
Hearing the sound of the door being closed, Dean turned around and looked at Leon.
"You took a while." He smiled lightly.
"Yeah." Leon gave a soft nod and turned to walk towards his room.
"Hey, wait up." Dean called out, standing up from the bench.
"What do you want?" Leon asked as he turned around.
"Can you at least answer me without making me feel like I'm forcing myself on you?" Dean asked with a sigh.
'Okay, wait, that doesn't sound right.' Dean thought while looking at the change in expression on Leon's face.
"Huh?" Leon raised a brow, looking at Dean weirdly.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm straighter than a ruler. What I'm trying to say is that, at least, talk to me properly." Dean tried to clear up the weird thoughts that might crop up in Leon's mind.
"I'm sorry," Leon apologized softly.
"Oh..." Dean was taken aback, not expecting Leon would apologize.
'Guess his emotions are still there, and he's not a total jerk.' thought Dean
The fact that Leon apologized showed his personality wasn't bad, it's just that he still seems somewhat confused, and downcast from the loss of his friend.
"Okay, let's leave that at that. Since I came to this world, other than your family compound and mine, I haven't been to any other place. I'd like to see the city, and I thought we should take a stroll together since you're still feeling down. Maybe it might help you get your mind off things as well." suggested Dean.
Leon gave the idea some thought before nodding, "Yeah, I think I need that."
"Good. You should take care of that before we head out." Dean pointed at Leon's bleeding hand.
Leon stared at his bleeding hand.
"Hmm." He nodded before heading in to freshen up.
The injury wasn't anything important, it was just a scratch and would heal within a day or two. Although his cultivation stage isn't high enough to heal serious injuries, healing a scratch was a breeze.
Ten minutes later Leon came back to the training grounds.